Bronto's Revenge: 2 (Barbarian Lust) (2 page)

“Possibly,” Vulcan replied. “But for now, we must assume all
animals are corrupt.”

“That is not fair,” she said, stomping her foot.

“I know, but I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”

“Fine.” She wiggled from his arms. “Good night.” Without a
second glance she fled into the hut, disappearing behind the flap.

Bronto spun around, whistling and rocking heel to toe. “I
suspect someone will be sleeping on the floor tonight.”

Vulcan playfully punched his shoulder. “I sleep on the floor
every night.”

“
Alone
on the floor,” Bronto clarified. “She looks
good. It appears she survived your wrath.”

“What did you think, I’d beat her?”

“You were mad enough.”

“I would never hurt her. I’m savoring my frustrations to
expel on a certain someone from a weaker gender.”

“I suppose that would be me.”

Vulcan laughed and rustled Bronto’s hair. “Go post yourself
outside Jade and Ivy’s hut. I’m sure you feel no one else is worthy of the
job.”

Well put, since it was plain and simply an understatement.
He trusted the tribal men’s abilities but their testosterone-driven actions—not
at all. He was comfortable with Zypher, Trice and Tyran, the other Americans in
their unit, but he kept a close eye on the full-blooded Barbarians. One in
particular, Grunt, spent most of his time wiping drool off his chin whenever he
was in the same vicinity as Ivy. Bronto couldn’t put a stop to that overtly
sexual response. Not until he claimed her. In the meantime she was up for
grabs. If Bronto had taken her captive she would’ve already been marked as his.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

Bronto shook his head while sauntering along the huts. He
knew Pearl and Ruby’s were vacant because both women refused to leave the
underground shelters after the T-Rex stormed into camp, wreaking havoc.

He sat down outside Jade’s hut and leaned against the corner
support beam, laying the bow on his lap. It was too weak a weapon to injure an
actual dinosaur but Tyran, the unit scientist, suspected an arrow could drop a
dinosaur shifter quicker than a blink of an eye. As it would drop a sneaky
alien, which they were determined to kill. And hopefully before they achieved
shifting into such a humungous subject. Every single person on Helixis was in
jeopardy of being captured and drained of their blood for that experimental
purpose.

For a brief moment Bronto closed his eyes and rested his
head against the beam. In the distance an array of groaning sounds echoed from
the foothills. He sat up and gazed toward the mountains. The noises didn’t
appear human, nor had he heard such reverberations before. They weren’t sounds
of distress but hums of contentment. The horses didn’t seem to mind. Other than
an occasional stomp of a hoof, they hadn’t made a peep.

He stood, situated the bow over his shoulder and walked past
Zypher’s hut, the last in the row, and halted on the path leading to the
meadow. He glanced at the rays of moonlight filtering over the lush landscape
to where the mountaintops appeared etched in the sky.

“Bronto?” a soft voice called.

He turned to see Ivy approaching, arms wrapped across her
tummy. “Hi. You couldn’t sleep?” he asked, offering his most charming smile.

“Not really.”

“You’re welcome to join me.” He held out his hand. “Come
here.”

She stepped into the nook of his arm and laid her head on
his chest. He wiggled his hand around her waist and held her close. The crown
of her head leveled near the crease of his armpit, to where he had to actually
tilt his chin forward to place his lips on the top of her scalp. In other
words, she fit perfectly.

“Will you be guarding the camp ’til sunrise?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied, mesmerized by the soft fragrance of her
skin. Jade had obviously shared her lotions. How could something so simple
smell completely different on two different women? Pheromones. Hormones.
Something altered the scent but he wasn’t complaining. Hell no. It provided the
spark that set fire to his balls. And he and Ivy had enough chemistry burning
between them to keep the flame alive.

She tilted her chin and batted her lashes. “Would you mind
if I stay awake with you?”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t mind that at all.” If he still
practiced promiscuity from his high school days he might’ve tried claiming her
by now.
Might’ve
being the operative wordbut he respected her
way too much to break into her pants, or bottoms as she called them, just for
the sake of getting laid. Ruby was sent on the mission for that purpose. He
wasn’t ashamed to admit he’d taken care of an itch or two by utilizing her
time.

“Me and Wisty used to sit around the fire and talk all
night. I miss it.”

“I can’t promise I’ll be as entertaining but I’ll at least
try to keep you from falling asleep.”

She laughed softly and the sound fled directly to his
testicles. He didn’t know how Ivy felt in regard to making love, or how far she
might’ve gone if he’d initiated a seduction. Most times she just wanted a hug.
She’d experienced a lot of heartache and what he considered a messed-up family.
He wasn’t being judgmental but it was what she’d said that led him to believe
it. As long as she sought comfort he’d provide it. And until she hinted she
wanted something more he’d act the perfect gentleman.

He inhaled another deep breath of her scent and swished it
around in his head. Musk. Flowers. God, he loved the smell. Or did he love the
smell because it now signified Ivy?

Jade was a good woman for sharing her supplies. She’d even
lent shaving cream and a woman’s razor to Vulcan to shave Wisteria’s legs.

Bronto shook his head and smiled. The big, bad Barbarian
leader primping his woman. That tidbit of information was worth noting.

Bronto would have to remember the shaving tactic for future
use. Somehow he couldn’t visualize taking on the responsibility. Half the time
he couldn’t shave his face without a nick or two. He couldn’t imagine running a
sharp blade along Ivy’s legs. Hell, maybe he could. For his efforts it had
potential to end in an appreciative grand finale. When or if the time came he’d
make sure Jade promised to keep the list of his borrowed supplies their secret.

Although Jade was the youngest American female in their unit
at twenty-four years old, she’d stepped into the nurturing role and made sure
the tribe had everything they needed, from clothing to proper medical
treatment. If Bronto read her actions correctly she also had an eye for Rocko,
the pure-blooded Barbarian in charge of the night-watch team.

“What are those sounds?” Ivy asked, lifting her head from
Bronto’s chest.

It could’ve been his heart because it beat like a drum but
he knew she’d referenced the noise echoing from the foothills. “I’m not sure.”

“I believe it’s the Sauropods,” Tyran said behind them.

Ivy jumped. Bronto tightened her beneath his arm and
slightly turned around. Tyran sauntered forward, fully dressed in fur hides,
holding both hands at his back.

“What are they doing?” Bronto asked.

“What’s a sourpod?” Ivy intervened.

Tyran stopped beside them, gazing toward the mountains.
“They are the largest breed of dinosaurs, four-legged herbivores, and they are
communicating amongst themselves,” he replied.

Ivy returned her head to Bronto’s chest. “I’m not going to
ask,” she mumbled under her breath.

Tyran gazed at her and smiled. “Herbivores survive off of
vegetation. They are the plant eaters. The tyrannosaur we encountered earlier
this evening was a theropod, primarily carnivorous.”

“A meat eater,” Ivy said. She shivered and snuggled closer
to Bronto. “Like a cave lion.”

“Exactly,” Tyran confirmed.

“Why haven’t we ever seen them before?”

“I can theorize it’s because of the alien species stealing
their offspring. While some dinosaurs abandon their eggs, others are very
protective. I presume they’re searching for their young.”

She gulped loud enough for Bronto to hear. “What happens
when they reach us?” she asked, her voice quavering.

Tyran refocused on the mountains. “I’m not sure how the
sauropods will react to people. They may be curious, or frightened, or anxious.
We have no documentation proving human contact within their evolution, so
anything I say is pure speculation.”

“Guesses, right?”

“Yes,” Bronto confirmed, giving her an endearing squeeze.
“Guesses. Tyran’s guesses.”

Tyran cleared his throat. “The theropods, on the other hand,
won’t hesitate to feast on us.”

Ivy stepped even closer, her entire body shivering.

“Tyran, knock it off,” Bronto said, his voice a pitch below
a shout. “You’re scaring her.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to be up front and honest.”

“It’s okay, Tyran,” she assured him. “I’m not afraid. It’s
not like I haven’t already seen the tyrannosaur kill a man.”

Unfortunately she’d watched the monster in action. That
thing wanted blood and it’d gotten a taste when it’d plucked a guard from the
trees and nearly chomped him in half. Hopefully the tyrannosaur relatives
wouldn’t come searching for it anytime soon. It was chopped, burnt and turned
to soot.

“Come on, baby doll, wake up.”

Ivy pulled the fur over her head to make Jade disappear.
“Not yet,” she grumbled.

“I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.”

“Bronto and Vulcan found us.”

“Ah, now it makes sense. I should’ve realized Vulcan
wouldn’t let his woman stay away too long. Come on.” She yanked the hide off
Ivy and tossed it aside. “Up you go.”

Shivering, Ivy pulled her knees to her chest. “I just went
to bed.”

“You only have yourself to blame.” She grabbed Ivy’s wrists
and tugged her onto her butt. “I don’t know what it is about you and your
sister but you’re like infants. Up all night and sleep all day. We need to
readjust your hours.”

“It’s Bronto’s fault.”

Jade giggled. “Of course it is. He’s totally incapable of
guarding our hut by himself.”

“He talks a lot,” Ivy declared, rubbing her eyes with her
palms.

“That he does but I sense he’s not the only one.”

“I need my own hut,” Ivy grouched while tilting sideways to
lie back down but Jade caught her by the arm and righted her.

“Until your sister and Vulcan approve, you’re stuck with me.
Uppity-up.”

“Grrr,” Ivy growled, flipping onto her knees before she
climbed to her feet. “There. Are you happy?”

“Ecstatic. Now let’s go.”

Ivy patted a yawn while Jade grabbed her opposite hand and
pulled her from the hut. For such a petite woman Jade had a strong grip. With
her long, black, waist-length tresses and delicate features she portrayed a
vision of beauty. A white rabbit foot was somehow attached in her hair near the
top of her head and it dangled behind her ear.

Vulcan, Wisteria, two ladies close to Jade’s age, and Grunt,
Rocko and another man sat around the fire, eating their morning meal. Birmon,
the little monster with a rhino head, talons, pointy wings and blue spikes
along his back, lay on Wisteria’s lap, sniffing berries in the palm of her
hand.

Jade tugged Ivy toward the circle so swiftly Ivy stumbled
over a large rock that was sticking up from the ground and stubbed her toe.
“Ouch. Slow down,” she yelped, garnering everyone’s attention. Everyone’s but
Bronto’s, who she wished was present. She should’ve just snuck into his hut
this morning. At least she would’ve gotten some sleep. Jade wasn’t rude enough
to have barged in there to wake her up. Or maybe she was.

A short distance away between the forest and the yard stood
a tall, charred tree surrounded by ashes and tiny stones. Leather straps were
tied around the trunk from the base to the top. Evidently it’d been used as a
stake, and the ashes… She didn’t want to think about those. “Bronto is apparently
still asleep,” she whispered.

“
He
worked hard all night,” Jade emphasized, pulling
Ivy toward a pot burning over a smaller fire. “And if you’re going to stay, you
need to earn your keep. Lucky you, you get to clean up the breakfast mess.”

“My sister isn’t earning her keep,” Ivy said, eyeing
Wisteria.

“The beauty queen earns her keep by keeping our chieftain
happy.”

“Why do you call her that…that queen thing?”

Jade chuckled and stopped near the pot. Ivy nearly plowed
into her back but stopped short of colliding and embarrassing herself.

“A queen is a powerful woman. She rules her domain. Your
sister is beautiful and one day she will rule the chieftain’s heart,” Jade
said, turning around. “It suits her, don’t you think?” she asked, draping Ivy’s
hair over her shoulder as Ivy’s mother used to do. “Just like
baby doll
suits you.”

Ivy rolled her eyes and held up her hands, palms facing
Jade. “Don’t say it. I’d rather not know.” It was the first time she’d actually
talked to Jade at length since Sledge, one of Ivy’s clansmen, forced Ivy into
the Barbarian camp as bait days ago in an attempt to capture Wisteria. “I think
heartless
suits you.”

Jade grinned. “You have spunk. I think I’ll enjoy having you
around.” She removed a bowl from the stone table and handed it to Ivy. “Grab
yourself something to eat. We’ll clean up when everyone is finished.”

Ivy wiped her palms on her fur bottoms then grabbed the
wooden bowl from Jade’s hand. The food bowl was larger than she’d been
accustomed to. After the Flesh Eaters chased her clan from their original
habitat in the lush meadows to the forest caves, the women rationed food. They
survived on small portions while the men ate heartily to build and maintain
strength in case another tribe attacked.

“Ivy, come sit with me,” Wisteria said, patting the ground.

Ivy nodded and lowered her eyes. As she walked toward her
sister, multiple gazes eyed her up and down from her face to toes. One in
particular disturbed her and caused the hair on the back of her neck to
bristle.

“This spot is open,” Grunt said.

That was the one. “Thank you,” Ivy replied. “But I’ll sit by
my sister.”

He grabbed her by the wrist as she walked by and yanked her
slightly backward. “Sit down.”

If his soul was as cold and harsh as his hand, he had no
heart. But she’d already known it if first impressions held true. “I said,” she
uttered, tugging her arm free, “I’m sitting with my sister.”

Vulcan’s gaze rolled upward from a stick he was twisting
between his fingers. Though his expression was calm and relaxed he appeared
ready to jump and strike.

Ignoring the throb in her wrist from Grunt’s finger
imprints, she quickly shuffled around the circle and sat down beside Wisteria,
crossing her legs.

“Ack.” Birmon hopped off Wisteria’s lap, waddled to Ivy and
sniffed the scuff on her toe.

“Hi, Birmon,” Ivy said. She lifted her arms, providing him
room to snuggle in the space between her legs, but he lay down on the ground,
stuck out his tongue and licked the blood off her foot. The wound disappeared
right before her eyes. “Wisty, did you see that?” she exclaimed.

“Yes. I told you he’s magical. That’s how easily the slashes
from my whipping disappeared.” Wisteria glanced at Vulcan, who was shaking his
head, possibly in disbelief. “I guess he likes only women’s blood,” she concluded.

“I’d say so,” Vulcan mumbled.

“How do you know?” Ivy asked.

Vulcan bent his leg and rested his arm over his knee. “The
little guy wouldn’t even try to heal my injury.” He winked at Wisteria and
grinned. “He made me suffer through the pain and agony. For days I could barely
move my arm.”

“You fib.” Wisteria elbowed him in the ribs. “Stop it. I
feel horrible enough about that.”

Ivy looked at Vulcan, then her sister. “About what?” she
asked, patting a yawn.

“I’ll explain later,” Wisteria whispered, rolling her eyes
toward the others present. “It’s personal.”

The only thing personal Ivy knew happened between a man and
woman was mating or making love. How could an injury relate to such an intimate
act? Unless an accident occurred. In that case she didn’t want to know. Well,
she did but she didn’t want all the details. Yes, she did. Any information she
could ingest, whether good or bad, might help her understand more clearly what
to expect. Her momma never explained it. She’d just said they mated to make
babies. The little bit Wisteria previously described so far indicated pleasure.

Wisteria patted Ivy’s knee. “You look tired. Didn’t you
sleep?”

“Not much.” Ivy took a small bite of the grains then set the
bowl aside. She didn’t have much of an appetite. She never did when sleepy. “I
stayed awake with Bronto, listening to the dinosaurs talk.”

Wisteria’s eyes widened. “The dinosaurs talk?” She swiftly
glanced at Vulcan. “They don’t talk, do they?” she asked, then faced Ivy again.
“They can’t talk.”

Ivy nodded. “They do. They make a humming sound. It’s very
relaxing.”

“How do you know it was the dinosaurs?” Wisteria asked.

“Tyran. He thinks they were sourpods.”

“Sourpods?” Wisteria’s eyes again widened.

“The four-legged, big ones that eat plants.”

Vulcan chuckled as he took a stance. “Sauropods. If Tyran
said they talk, then they do.” He offered his hand to Wisteria. “I’m going to
start chopping down trees for wood to reinforce the huts. Would you like to
join me?”

Wisteria nodded, latched on to his fingers and let him
assist her to her feet. “Ivy, go take a nap. I’ll wake you in a while.”

“I can’t. Jade won’t let me. I have to help clean up the
meal mess.”

Vulcan glanced at Jade, where she remained standing by the
pot of grains. “She’ll have sufficient help. Go rest.”

Ivy jumped up and practically ran toward the huts. When she
reached Bronto’s she halted and turned around to see if anyone was watching. No
one appeared to be but off to the side the forest trees rustled and something
moved.

“Chieftain,” a guard in the forest shouted.

She held her breath and turned slowly. Two tribesmen, Trice
and Zypher, were slowly following…her father. And he carried his club.

She slapped a hand over her mouth as Vulcan and Wisteria
came running. Wisteria gasped.

“Stay back,” Vulcan shouted, holding up his hand. She halted
mid-step and nearly stumbled forward.

“We recognized him as a member of the Peaceful Clan, sir,”
Zypher conveyed. “It’s the only reason we let him through.”

Ivy inched toward Vulcan, who was moving exceptionally
slowly to her father. Her dad knew better than to barge into Barbarian
territory. It gave Vulcan or any of the other tribesmen the right to kill him
if they chose to. She gulped, for Vulcan harbored enough anger toward him to do
just that. “Father, what are you doing here?” Ivy asked, her voice quavering.

“Father, what are you doing here?” he repeated, swinging his
club up and down at his side.

“Oh no,” Ivy shrieked, grabbing her throat.

“Oh no,” he mocked.

Her heart raced. She looked at Vulcan then at Trice and
Zypher. They remained a slight distance behind her dad to where he couldn’t
reach them if he attacked with the weapon.

As she approached she could see scales on the side of his
legs and neck. Her stomach clenched. She grew nauseated and swooned. The urge
to vomit burned her throat but nothing came up when she gagged.

The instant he changed direction and headed straight for
Wisteria, Ivy fought the sick feeling and shouted, “Father, stop! Stay away
from her.” Even in a mutant state he wanted to beat Wisteria to death with his
club as he’d nearly done to their brother Boar.

“Father, stop. Stay away from her.” Again he mimicked her
word for word but his eyes never rose from the ground.

“What’s going on?” Bronto yelled at her back.

She whipped around to see him standing inside his doorway,
holding the flap open. “It’s my father.”

Bronto was beside her in seconds but she raced to her
sister. “Wisty, oh gosh, Wisty, father is a mutant.”

Wisteria nodded. With as awful as he’d treated her, she had
tears in her eyes. “I-I know,” she stammered.

“Ladies, get inside my hut,” Vulcan commanded.

Ivy dreaded those words, for the last time they’d been
ordered away was when he destroyed the mutant of their brother Boar.

Wisteria froze and Ivy’s heart lurched. “Come on, Wisty,”
she said, turning her sister and leading her to the hut. “We must do as he
says.”

Nodding, Wisteria fell into step beside her. “Wisty, that is
not our real father. For him to appear in this state, the aliens have already
killed him.”

“I know.”

Ivy pulled back the flap and tucked Wisteria inside near the
fire.

“How could they get to him?” Wisteria asked. “He was such a
strong man.”

“The aliens can get anyone, not only the weak. Boar was a
strong man as well.”

“What about Momma?” Wisteria grabbed Ivy’s hand and
squeezed. “What if they turned Momma into a mutant too?”

Ivy brushed hair from her sister’s lashes and tucked it
behind her ear. “We cannot think about that right now. With Daddy now gone, we
can return to the clan to see if she’s okay.”

“I still loved him, Ivy. For the man he used to be.”

Ivy palmed Wisteria’s face. “I know. Me too but that was a
long time ago. That man died alongside Lily. You mustn’t dwell on it.”

Ivy embraced Wisteria and sat rocking her in her arms while
trying to recall the memorable times spent with their father. Unfortunately
there weren’t any recent instances that made her smile. He became difficult to
live with upon Lily’s death and turned into a vicious, hateful man. He failed
to realize they’d loved her too and hurt as desperately as he had.

If Ivy reached further into her past she’d find the happy
times but she wasn’t ready to visit those yet. Once she did, it would be very,
very sad.

“Are you ladies all right?”

Ivy looked up to see Bronto standing in the doorway, and the
compassion in his expression brought tears to her eyes. “Yes.”

“Things are calm out here,” he said softly, which meant her
mutant father was destroyed and fed to the fire.

She nodded in understanding. “Thank you. We’ll be out in a
little while. You’re welcome to stay with us if you’d like.”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “You ladies need your
privacy. We’ll be on the back side of the huts chopping trees if you need
anything.”

After he left she and Wisteria talked. About their past.
Their future. Their current arrangement. They laughed and they cried. About
happy times. And sad. Ivy even reminisced about the fun days she’d chosen to
ignore.

Then they sat in silence, embraced in each other’s arms.
They listened to the men chop down the trees. Heard the trunks hit the ground.
They even listened to the silence when the men stole time to bathe after
working so hard all day.

After Vulcan returned and handed her and Wisteria each a
bowl of what resembled what Momma used to make and called potato-slosh, Ivy ate
then stood to leave. “Wisty, if you need me, I’ll be in Bronto’s hut.”